


Late Night Talks

by agentwashingcat



Category: RWBY
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, also letting Qrow flex his dad skills lmao, letting Ruby have the breakdown she deserves tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25879036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentwashingcat/pseuds/agentwashingcat
Summary: Qrow and Ruby have a late night chat.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Ruby Rose
Kudos: 35





	Late Night Talks

Qrow scratched his head with the back of his pencil, letting out a string of curse words before erasing what he’d started to write. All he was left with was “Dear Tai,” the result of an hour's worth of work. 

Letter writing had never come naturally to him, but it was the least Tai deserved. After all, they’d been gone over a year now. Though with Qrow’s luck the letter would probably never make it there anyway and his effort would have been for nothing.

“Uncle Qrow?” 

Ruby’s voice startled him out of his thoughts, causing him to drop his pencil on the floor, where it rolled under the desk. Decidedly out of reach, of course. 

“Well, I wasn’t really making headway anyway,” Qrow said sardonically. He glanced over at Ruby in the doorway, a frown forming at the serious look on her face. “What do you need, kiddo?”

“I was just… thinking.” Ruby padded into the room, taking a seat on the edge of his bed, and it struck him how young she looked. Qrow was used to seeing her in her gear, ready to take down grimm and kick ass. Sitting here in her pajamas, hands folded uncertainty in front of her, she looked like the 16 year old she was.

“Yeah, what about?” Qrow prompted, moving from the desk chair to take a seat beside her.

“I was never going to have a normal life, was I?” She looked up at Qrow with teary eyes, and he felt his heart break into pieces in his chest. 

Slowly, he shook his head. “No. Your mother, she tried her hardest so you and Yang wouldn’t have to go through the same things we did but… whatever happened on her last mission, it put an end to that.”

“Did Ozpin know something was going to happen? Is that why he brought me up to Beacon?”

“We… thought something might happen,” Qrow admitted. “Salem was setting some sort of plan in motion, and it seemed it would happen sooner rather than later. That’s why James brought his Military to the Vytal festival, against Ozpin’s wishes.” He reached out, placing a gentle hand on her back. “I wanted him to wait. You deserved the chance to be a child as long as you could.”

Qrow himself had had very little childhood to speak off, growing up in the tribe. When every day was focused on survival, it was hard to be a kid. That wasn’t what he’d wanted for Ruby and Yang. They deserved to be kids. To just… be.

Though he wasn’t sure how well him and Tai had managed that. They had done their best but… Qrow knew they hadn’t been perfect. Especially after Summer’s death.

Ruby leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder and he moved his arm to wrap around her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’m not upset I’m here. I want to help. I would have helped anyway it’s just-”

“I know it’s a lot.” Qrow gave her shoulder another squeeze. “I’m proud of you. You’ve handled it well.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Ruby let out a small sniffle. Qrow stared down at her in shock and panic as she curled in on herself, letting out a small sob.

“Oh no, what did I say?” Qrow wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry against his shoulder, guilt settling in his stomach. Upsetting her further had been the last thing he wanted to do.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, there’s just so many people counting on me and I already failed at Beacon at protecting Pyrrha and-and Penny, and, and-” 

“Woah, woah, easy!” Qrow gently rubbed her back. “You didn’t fail anyone. You did you best at Beacon, Ruby. And Penny’s fine! She’s flying around out there right now.”

“But if it happens again Pietro can’t bring her back!” Ruby wailed, staring up at him with tear stained cheeks, silver eyes glistening with tears. “She got set up again by Salem’s people and if Mantle demands she get dismantled-”

“That won’t happen,” Qrow soothed. “James won’t let it happen.” He continued to gently rub her back. “It’s alright to be upset, Ruby. You’ve been through a lot and come out so much stronger for it. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. You can’t keep everything bottled up forever.”

Qrow was still working on that part, honestly. 

Eventually Ruby’s tears subsided. She wrapped her arms around Qrow’s waist, sniffling quietly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here and cry.”

“It’s alright, kiddo.” Qrow pressed a kiss to her head. “I told you, you’re allowed to be upset and overwhelmed.”

Ruby managed a smile, pulling back from Qrow to wipe at her eyes. “Yeah. Thanks, Uncle Qrow. I feel a lot better.”

“Glad to hear it, kiddo.” Qrow reached out to muss up her hair. “You can come talk to me anytime, okay? Now go drink some water, you need to rehydrate. And get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Yang,” Ruby teased, nudging him gently with her elbow. 

Qrow scrunched up his nose. “Hey, I was here first, she should sound like me, not the other way around.”

Ruby laughed, shaking her head. “Sure, Uncle Qrow. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Of course, kiddo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated! <3


End file.
